There's probably no God...

[ChanelleJo]

Ok, I have a question. Where was Jesus before he was 30?

[TaylorKnows]

Uh...from what I understand he grew up with his mom and step-dad. He was a carpenter. Then at some point in his life, he began working miracles. Forgive me, it's been awhile since I've read actual stories from the bible or attended church.

[Llama]

I'm agnostic myself, but there ARE different ways of interpreting the idea of God besides a mystical man that apparently rules the heavens and beyond. I do know that people see God as nature itself, the Universe, etc. I'm not sure if there is a God or not, but if he DOES exist, I believe that the concept itself is complex and beyond human comprehension. But who knows? That being said, IF he exists, in this vast universe I think he would give 0.0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001% fucks about life on Earth. I don't believe in the concept of heaven.

[wanderlust]

I'm agnostic myself, but there ARE different ways of interpreting the idea of God besides a mystical man that apparently rules the heavens and beyond. I do know that people see God as nature itself, the Universe, etc. I'm not sure if there is a God or not, but if he DOES exist, I believe that the concept itself is complex and beyond human comprehension. But who knows? That being said, IF he exists, in this vast universe I think he would give 0.0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001% fucks about life on Earth. I don't believe in the concept of heaven.

I agree completely. If you look at how vast this universe is, you realize what a miniscule little speck Earth is in the grand scheme of things....so, so tiny. Yet, so many people on Earth believe in a personal God who attends to their prayers about winning a soccer game, getting a new car, or what have you. I think of that scene in Bruce Almighty where Bruce gets overwhelmed with all the prayers he is receiving.

[Kleineganz]

How do those of you who are atheists cope with the thought of death and the death of loved ones. I am an atheist but death is such a sore subject for me. It's not because I'm scared "I'm wrong". It's because the thought of nothingness terrifies me. I don't want to die before growing old. I don't want to lose my family members. Everything right now is just as it should be and the thought of that going away brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it. I know that one day I will find peace/accept death. For now, I avoid it because of the emotional stress I experience. Thankfully, I've got a few songs that help and a few quotes that are nice to remember.

The thought of nothingness doesn't terrify me. I do miss the loved ones I've lost. I know those of us left behind are the ones who suffer when those we loved are gone, and that does break my heart. However the thought of my death doesn't scare me. As an atheist, I definitely believe that once I die, who and what I was just ends. I won't be aware of being dead, and so I won't lament dying. The only thing I fear is having a long, painful death ... I'd rather just fall asleep and not wake up again (ideally), but these things are impossible to plan.

[discrepancies]

I'm an atheist. I have never believed in any kind of higher power, and I've never doubted myself in believing that. I don't believe in heaven, hell or any kind of life after death. I'm scared of dying because the thought of ceasing to exist freaks me out, but I suppose if I don't exist I can't worry about it so it really wont matter in the end.
I don't have a problem with people having religious beliefs, but I generally really dislike organised religion and of course extremism.

[Min]

How do those of you who are atheists cope with the thought of death and the death of loved ones. I am an atheist but death is such a sore subject for me.

I believe their time is done and they return to the Earth physically. I still don't deal with death particularly well (I doubt many people do, regardless of their faith), but having no belief makes me truly appreciate life more because I know there is no afterlife waiting for me. It makes me want to make more out of my life and do and experience more things.

Oh, and I'm assuming the first post is a reference to Dawkins...

[wanderlust]

How do those of you who are atheists cope with the thought of death and the death of loved ones. I am an atheist but death is such a sore subject for me. It's not because I'm scared "I'm wrong". It's because the thought of nothingness terrifies me. I don't want to die before growing old. I don't want to lose my family members. Everything right now is just as it should be and the thought of that going away brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it. I know that one day I will find peace/accept death. For now, I avoid it because of the emotional stress I experience. Thankfully, I've got a few songs that help and a few quotes that are nice to remember.

The thought of nothingness doesn't terrify me. I do miss the loved ones I've lost. I know those of us left behind are the ones who suffer when those we loved are gone, and that does break my heart. However the thought of my death doesn't scare me. As an atheist, I definitely believe that once I die, who and what I was just ends. I won't be aware of being dead, and so I won't lament dying. The only thing I fear is having a long, painful death ... I'd rather just fall asleep and not wake up again (ideally), but these things are impossible to plan.

I know I won't be aware of being dead. I guess I'm just scared of that lack of awareness. I'd like to live a great deal longer than I'll actually live, but I would never want to live forever. It brings anxiety now but I know it will all be well once I die because well, I will cease to exist. I just want to live a long, fulfilling life.

I'm with you on the wish to just fall asleep. Because of all the heart problems in my family, I get paranoid every time I even get heartburn. Peacefully going in my sleep would be preferable. My, what a morbid topic this has become.

[Llama]

I myself am afraid of the concept of death. I think the reason why a lot of people convert to Christianity or whatever is because they have been constantly been told "you will go to hell and burn if you don't believe in God!". They themselves are afraid of the concept of death and the idea of suffering for the rest of eternity is too horrible. I know that when I was in elementary school, I believed in God solely for this reason. Other kids on the playground would tell me that I would go to hell if I didn't believe in God. :I

[TaylorKnows]

Kids are the worst when it comes to this, especially pastor's kids. They're always so mean to people that don't believe. Growing up, I had friends of different religions and never really said much but my former pastor's girls were so rude to those of different religions, not that they were around them a lot. They were attending a private Christian school that their parents couldn't afford, but I digress. I remember once in like the second grade, there was only one Jewish girl in our Girl Scout troop and this girl was dissing everyone for believing in Jesus which I guess is the opposite of this, but it just proves how easily kids can be swayed.

[wellwellwell]

How do those of you who are atheists cope with the thought of death and the death of loved ones. I am an atheist but death is such a sore subject for me. It's not because I'm scared "I'm wrong". It's because the thought of nothingness terrifies me. I don't want to die before growing old. I don't want to lose my family members. Everything right now is just as it should be and the thought of that going away brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it. I know that one day I will find peace/accept death. For now, I avoid it because of the emotional stress I experience. Thankfully, I've got a few songs that help and a few quotes that are nice to remember.

Being an atheist myself, I try not to think of death too much but when I do, it motivates me to live a better life. To spend more time with my family and friends. For me, the time we have here is precious because it is the ONLY time we have so I try to make it good.

[ChanelleJo]

What atheists don't understand is that saying there is no life after death you are actually agreeing with God. Who clearly said in our words "When you're dead, you're dead".
As an atheist myself I'm pretty sure reincarnation exists.
Also, I've heard from some of you "I'm an atheist so no, I don't believe in ghosts nor in the supernatural". Well, God said the same thing. "You should not believe in ghosts or supernatural, they do not exist."
So, you're actually contradicting yourselves.

[wanderlust]

What atheists don't understand is that saying there is no life after death you are actually agreeing with God. Who clearly said in our words "When you're dead, you're dead".
As an atheist myself I'm pretty sure reincarnation exists.
Also, I've heard from some of you "I'm an atheist so no, I don't believe in ghosts nor in the supernatural". Well, God said the same thing. "You should not believe in ghosts or supernatural, they do not exist."
So, you're actually contradicting yourselves.

So let me get this straight...because someone on here said something that the Bible also says, we are agreeing with God and contradicting ourselves? How are we contradicting ourselves? If I make a point, it isn't less or more true just because someone/"something" else happens to have said the same thing at a different time.

[wanderlust]

How do those of you who are atheists cope with the thought of death and the death of loved ones. I am an atheist but death is such a sore subject for me. It's not because I'm scared "I'm wrong". It's because the thought of nothingness terrifies me. I don't want to die before growing old. I don't want to lose my family members. Everything right now is just as it should be and the thought of that going away brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it. I know that one day I will find peace/accept death. For now, I avoid it because of the emotional stress I experience. Thankfully, I've got a few songs that help and a few quotes that are nice to remember.

Being an atheist myself, I try not to think of death too much but when I do, it motivates me to live a better life. To spend more time with my family and friends. For me, the time we have here is precious because it is the ONLY time we have so I try to make it good.

I like that perspective.

[ChanelleJo]

I'm sorry I wasn't even thinking about you. Just atheists in general.

[wanderlust]

I'm sorry I wasn't even thinking about you. Just atheists in general.

I spoke about myself because I am one of the atheists on this thread. I wasn't taking it personally.
I'm confused about what kind of point you were trying to make.

[ChanelleJo]

Hello? I just said I'm an atheist too. I can see you are confused, it's obvious.
Fist of, when you're an atheist you don't believe in God, Jesus, Virgin Mary and the shit load of saints people made up and brain washed kids in school. OK, now... my point is: as an atheist you cannot have the same beliefs as "God"- who said 'there is no life after death, it's a sin to believe in ghosts and supernatural, they don't exist yadda yadda yadda'... Why? Simply because we are atheists and we don't believe in God therefore we don't have "HIS" beliefs. Should I repeat myself more?

[wanderlust]

Hello? I just said I'm an atheist too. I can see you are confused, it's obvious.
Fist of, when you're an atheist you don't believe in God, Jesus, Virgin Mary and the shit load of saints people made up and brain washed kids in school. OK, now... my point is: as an atheist you cannot have the same beliefs as "God"- who said 'there is no life after death, it's a sin to believe in ghosts and supernatural, they don't exist yadda yadda yadda'... Why? Simply because we are atheists and we don't believe in God therefore we don't have "HIS" beliefs. Should I repeat myself more?

It doesn't matter if you are an atheist or not. Saying that atheists cannot have the same "beliefs as God" is absurd. I don't even know how to reply to that. Sorry that you feel the need to be rude about it.

[discrepancies]

Hello? I just said I'm an atheist too. I can see you are confused, it's obvious.
Fist of, when you're an atheist you don't believe in God, Jesus, Virgin Mary and the shit load of saints people made up and brain washed kids in school. OK, now... my point is: as an atheist you cannot have the same beliefs as "God"- who said 'there is no life after death, it's a sin to believe in ghosts and supernatural, they don't exist yadda yadda yadda'... Why? Simply because we are atheists and we don't believe in God therefore we don't have "HIS" beliefs. Should I repeat myself more?

Actually, you're point makes no sense. The definition of an atheist is someone who believes that there are no higher beings/deities. We don't simply disagree with Christianity, so what their 'god' says is irrelevant to us. It doesn't matter if certain things we think align with what the Christian god has apparently said in the Bible, we can still believe them.
Just because the Christian god said something doesn't mean we can't say it.
Saying you're atheist doesn't mean you only don't believe in Christianity, and agreeing with somethings he supposedly said is irrelevant since we don't believe he is real anyway.
You really don't need to be so rude.

[ChanelleJo]

Hmm... If you feel offended it doesn't mean I'm rude, y'know...
I know exactly the definition of an atheist, keep calm. Odd things happen without explanation. You should probably watch Morgan Freeman who's also an atheist in "Life after death" documentary.